Valdrucles
by Monica Moss
Summary: Lost and alone in a forest, Valerie helps an injured wolf. In return, the wolf saves Valerie's life. But what will happen with Valerie's mission to hunt Danny Fenton's ghost? Will she find out the truth about Fenton? Or about a mysterious new friend? AU
1. Valdrucles

**I know I haven't written anything in months, and I'm sorry. I should probably be uploading the next chapter of Exposed or something right now, but I got the inspiration to write this instead.**

**Okay, a brief note/question about stuff. This first chapter is a parody, but the rest of the chapters aren't really parodies. I don't have to categorize this story as a parody, do I? Somehow, I don't think so.  
**

Disclaimer: I have never lived in California, so I do not own Danny Phantom. I have never lived in the ancient world, so I do not own anything from mythology.

What I do own, is an unnamed OC or two.

* * *

The Injured Beast

As he usually was those days, Danny Phantom was in a ghost fight.

"So are you ready to go back into the Ghost Zone yet?" he asked his opponent, a wild-haired spectral witch in a black dress.

"After looking so hard for a way out? Never!" she replied.

"I don't have time for this you ugly . . . "

"Ugly?" she screamed in rage.

"You heard me," Danny said.

"Take it back!" she screeched. "Or must I inflict punishment?"

Danny laughed. "Punishment?" he asked. "That's what _I'm_ giving _you_ for terrifying those poor little kids! You can't threaten to turn them into toads!"

"Speaking of turning people into toads . . . "

"You do realize that a witch turning someone into a toad is about as cliche' as a werewolf howling at the full moon, don't you?" Danny asked, trying to distract her.

"If you want a little more original curse placed on you, then fine!" the witch said. "You'll get the curse of your own choosing."

"Really?" Danny asked, his face brightening up. "In that case, I choose . . . "

"Oh no," the witch told him, "You're not changing your mind about this spell, not when I heard you quite clearly the first time."

Danny paused for a moment, thinking about what the witch could possibly have meant by that. "Are you telepathic or something?" he finally asked. "Can you read minds?"

The witch sighed. "You've chosen, so I must get on with it. I will not answer any of your silly questions!"

The witch flipped out her wand, and hit Danny with a beam of white energy. Conjuring up a mirror, she showed him his reflection.

Danny recoiled with horror when he saw himself. 'Oh no,' he thought. 'I'll never blend in with society again! I can't stay here!'

He turned and fled into the woods. No one but the witch saw him go.

* * *

Valerie didn't know why she kept hiking through the forest. It was getting dark, and she was gravely certain that she wouldn't last the night.

She pulled her heavily-stained white jacket closer around her, in a vain attempt to fight off the deadly cold of the midwinter. Her breath clouded up in her line of vision as she fruitlessly scanned the white forest for some form of shelter.

Her stomach growled, reminding her again of the absence of several previous meals. She ignored it, knowing that if she was lucky enough find anything that had not gone barren for the winter, she could not tell whether it was edible or not.

As she shivered, she could almost smell the scent of her own impeding death in the numbing air.

'Stupid ghost kid!' she thought, feet still wandering through leaf-bare undergrowth. 'If it wasn't for him, I'd never have come in here!'

She clearly remembered getting the assignment, only a few days prior.

* * *

"_Oh good, you're here!" her boss said upon Valerie's arrival._

"_I'm assuming you have an assignment for me, sir?" she asked._

"_That I do. Now listen carefully," he warned her, "and do not repeat any of this information. I'm assuming you've heard of the Fentons?"_

"_The ones who built that portal in their search for ghosts, but then retired from ghost hunting last year?" she clarified._

"_Yes, that's them. Their teenage son went missing a few months before they retired. After weeks of searching, biologists reported a possible lead. They found something in a nearby forest that was supposed to be off-limits to unauthorized personnel. When the police investigated, they found significant evidence of the kid's death: shreds of his clothing, strands of hair with his DNA, wolf prints, drag marks, and the like."_

_Valerie felt faintly sick at the thought of the Fenton boy, at the thought of anyone, dying the way implied._

"_Not long after the discovery, reports started flying in of Fenton's ghost haunting the forest. Scientists, punk kids, and the search teams looking for the boy's remains all reported being chased out of the forest by Fenton over the next few nights. No one from that town has dared to return since."_

"_And you think he might become a threat?"_

"_Yes. That is where you come in. You will fly to a nearby city tomorrow, and begin your search the night of your arrival. We will send you into the center of the reported sightings. Fenton's ghost must be destroyed, understood?"_

"_I understand," she said._

"_Good," he said. He handed her a manilla folder labeled 'Top Secret'. "Here are the details of your assignment. It contains Fenton's description, biography, and details of his disappearance. We expect you to memorize the contents by tomorrow night, when you will shred the documents."_

'_Research?' she thought. 'How hard can it be to recognize a ghost in a restricted forest? I am totally blowing this off!'_

_

* * *

_

_Valerie had only been looking for Fenton for an hour before she'd crashed her hover board into a large rock. She looked through her night vision goggles at the GPS attached to her wrist._

"_Ugh," she groaned. "No signal."_

_She turned away from her useless GPS to see how much damage had been done to her hover board. What she found was not good. Its side was smashed in so deeply that it would be irreparable, even for a professional repairman. If it could still fly, it would be too much of a risk to ride._

_Valerie groaned again when she became aware of a throbbing ache on the left side of her body, where she'd hit the ground. 'I've got to get out of her,' she thought, pulling out her small first aid kit. 'I don't think I'll last long, all alone in here.'_

_She ditched her ghost hunting equipment, knowing it would only slow her down, and started to on her search for a way back to the city._

* * *

Valerie shook her head to clear it. "I thought it was my whole life that was supposed to pass in front of my eyes," she said, "not just the last few days."

However, she stopped talking to herself when she heard a pained whine. Valerie walked around a cluster of leafless bushes until she found the source of the noise.

Sitting behind the bushes was an injured wolf. It didn't look badly hurt, but its tail was missing chunks of fur, and was bleeding a little.

Valerie shivered at the sight of the animal. A wolf was what had gotten Fenton, after all.

The wolf sat where it was at, staring at her with its huge, yellow eyes, and making injured noises.

'It's just a dumb animal,' Valerie realized. 'It's not really concerned about harming humans. It's just looking out for its own survival.'

She moved closer to the wolf. 'Maybe I can do one last act of good tonight before I die,' she thought.

Valerie pulled out her first aid kit from the inside pocket of her jacket. Pulling out a cleansing wipe, she mumbled, "I'm sorry, but this is going to sting."

'As if the wolf can understand me,' she thought.

Surprisingly, the wolf didn't fight her when she wiped its tail with the wipe. Instead, it only yelped a bit. Valerie finished treating the wolf by wrapping gauze around its tail and securing the bandage with medical tape.

"There you go, wolf," she said to it. "You'll be fine. I won't live through the night, but you'll be fine."

The wolf stood up, and took a few steps away from Valerie. It looked back at her, and waited.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

In response, the wolf jerked its head between her and the way ahead, as if beckoning her to follow.

"I'm supposed to follow you?" she asked.

The wolf trotted ahead, at a pace that Valerie could easily follow. Valerie allowed the wolf to lead her, partly out of curiosity, partly because she didn't have anything better to do. The wolf paused every now and again, letting Valerie catch her breath. Eventually, the wolf led her into a small cave.

Valerie looked around in surprise when she saw the contents of the cave. There was a stack of firewood, and a fire pit. There was no bed, but there was a small pillow, and some blankets made out of fur.

Stored in a bowl of ice, there was a small supply of dried fruit, There was also a container holding some clear, liquid, water.

Valerie looked over at the wolf. "You knew about this place, so you brought me here. I guess that must've been out of gratitude, huh?" She frowned, and wondered, "Someone must live here, but who?"

Obviously, the wolf couldn't answer that. What the wolf _could_ do was nudge the bowl of food toward Valerie.

Valerie glanced around the cave. Now that she was taking a closer look, she saw something in the dirt on the floor of the cave that hinted at her that the cave was abandoned. The dirt was only disturbed by her own, and the wolf's paw prints. "I guess whoever was here hasn't been here in a while, huh?" she asked softly. "I guess it won't hurt if I stay here for a while. I _do_ need the food and shelter, after all."

Valerie picked up the fruit bowl, and ate gladly from it.

* * *

**P.S. Anyone who can name both the mythological story this chapter is based on, _and_ the Danny Phantom episode that alludes to it, will receive public praise at the beginning of the next chapter, and an imaginary piece of German Chocolate cake!**

**(The episode should be pretty obvious to anyone who knows the story. :))  
**


	2. The Stranger

**No one guessed? Oh well.**

**Okay, here are the answers:**

**The first chapter was based off Andreucles, the story of an escaped Roman slave, who pulled a thorn out of a lion's paw, and eventually got saved by the lion. The episode with the reference to that story was Infinite Realms, when Danny shot a thorn out of Frostbite's side.  
**

Disclaimer: If I owned Danny Phantom, I wouldn't have a disclaimer on this story, would I?

* * *

The Stranger

Valerie rolled over underneath the fur blanket. She was tossing about in her sleep, as a result of a somewhat realistic nightmare.

_She was running through the woods, glancing at her GPS every few seconds. "Come on, come on, you stupid thing! Just pick up a signal already, and tell me where I am!"_

_Valerie hated the next part of the dream. Out of nowhere, the wolf she'd saved, and the same wolf who had saved her, appeared. Its big, yellow eyes stared up at her, and she knew something was wrong._

"_What is it?" she asked._

_The wolf ran past her, and she looked to see what had scared it. She saw a dark shape, and jumped when it lumbered forward out of the shadows._

_There was another wolf. This one had intense red eyes, and its snout was pulled back into a snarl. But the wolf was not the most frightening of newcomers for Valerie, but the being it carried on its back that had frightened her most of all. There was a boy riding on the wolf, clothed in all black._

_Though the boy's features changed in every dream, she always knew who it was. "Fenton?" she gasped._

_Fenton chuckled in a deep voice. "You should not have come here," he said._

"_But I had to come," she said. "Don't you understand? You're putting everyone in danger! Don't any of you _ghosts_ care about that?"_

"_I cared, before everything changed," he said. "I had a different, pathetic, outlook back then, because I didn't want to die. Why is it none of you_ humans _look forward to being a ghost? Can't you see we are vastly superior to mortals?"_

_For a moment, a look of remorse came over his spectral features. It quickly changed to horror._

"_I've got to. I've gotta change! I can't stay like this!" he cried. "I've got to change!"_

"_Fenton?" Valerie asked._

"_No," Fenton finally decided. "I can't change. It's too late to save me, foolish girl. Can't you see I'm already dead? GET OUT OF MY FOREST, VALERIE!"_

_Fenton rose up, off the wolf's back. His aura grew brighter as he concentrated his ectoplasmic energy, and he rushed at her._

"Gah!" Valerie woke up, sweating underneath her blanket.

"Hello!" someone called. "Is anybody out here? Anybody at all?"

Valerie put on her night vision goggles and wrapped the fur blanket around her. She walked out into the night to investigate.

A teenage boy stood near the entrance to the cave. His clothes were in tatters, and his hair hung so low that nothing of above the tip of his nose was visible."Hey," he said to Valerie. He hung back, staying as concealed as he could, while still talking to her face.

"Hey," she said back. "Who are you?"

The boy shrugged. "Maybe I'm lost."

"What sort of an answer is that?" Valerie demanded.

"The type that's the best you're going to get from me tonight," he replied.

"No, seriously," said Valerie. "Who are you?"

"I'm just a kid, same as you."

"I can see that!" Valerie snapped. "I want to know who you are!"

The boy sighed. "You're very persistent, aren't you? Who am I? That depends on who's asking."

"You're not supposed to be here, are you?"

The boy grinned. "Neither are you, I'd imagine."

"Yeah, yeah. So who are you?"

"I could ask you the same question."

"Oh yeah? If you're out here, in the night, in the middle of winter, wearing _those rags,_ you obviously need help. Maybe I won't help you until I know who you are!" Valerie threatened.

Laughing, the boy said, "I don't need any help." He held up a small purse with the first aid symbol on the front. "I saw you helping that wolf in the forest the other week, and you forgot this. I've been trying to track you down."

Valerie snatched her first aid kit, and grumbled. "Couldn't it wait until morning?"

The boy shook his head. "I've got to be out of here by sunrise."

"Oh," said Valerie, "thanks. But you still haven't told me who you are."

"I'm just a local kid," he replied. "Why does it matter to you, anyway?"

"There was a kid who disappeared around here."

"You mean Danny?" the boy asked.

"If by 'Danny', you mean 'Fenton', then yes."

"You're looking for Danny?" the boy asked sadly. "You must be a ghost hunter, then."

"What's it to you?"

"Nothing. It's just that all the ghost hunters around town do a lot of damage to buildings and stuff while they're hunting ghosts," he replied.

"Relax. I won't hunt in town." she promised.

"That's good," he said distantly.

"What's wrong?" Valerie asked. "Is there something about me that has you worried?"

"Uh, not exactly, no? I'm only upset because I'm an environmentalist?" the boy said quickly, sounding unsure. "I'm just worried about you harming the wildlife, destroying habitats and such."

The boy took a step back. "Listen," he said. "You're a very funny ghost hunter, as far as you not knowing very much about the ghost you're hunting . . . "

"So maybe I blew off reading the papers my boss gave me," Valerie said, annoyed. "I had them with me, but I ditched all my stuff when I crashed."

The boy nodded. "Yeah, that would explain it," he agreed. "You're a very amusing ghost hunter, but I've really got to go." The boy turned, and darted off into the forest.

"Hey, wait a minute!" Valerie called, starting to chase the boy. "You've gotta show me the way back to town!"

Valerie chased him, but the boy had managed to give her the slip. "Perfect," she groaned. "Just perfect. Not only am I not getting back to town, but I'm probably not getting back to the cave, either."

She looked up at the sky. "Sunrise," she said to herself, and removed her goggles. "The boy must've led me east, which means I've got to go west to get back to the cave."

Valerie turned around, and saw the wolf waiting for her. "How long have you been with me?" she asked. "I swear you weren't in the cave when that kid showed up."


	3. Ghosts, Ghosts, and Symbols of Ghosts

**Thank you reviewers!**

**Valdrucles -I'm glad you love it!  
**

**Luiz4200 - I think you misunderstood, I said that the first _chapter_ was inspired by a story from mythology - Andrucles. (Just as a review, Andrucles helped an injured lion, and gained a valuable friendship with that lion. The lion eventually saved Andrucles' life.)**

**:)**

**I would also like to thank whoever added my story to the Phantom Chronicles C2. I'm not sure which one of you guys involved with that did it, but danke schoen! (Uh . . . many thanks!) :)  
**

Disclaimer: Just because I wrote this story does not mean I own anything from Danny Phantom. (Or anything that's related to the show that you guys find out about later. :))

* * *

Ghosts, Ghosts, and Symbols of Ghosts

The next night, the boy crept through the forest. He clearly remembered the girl saying that she had brought the file into the forest with her. He didn't know whether or not she'd go looking for it again, but he needed to be on the safe side, and get the file before her.

Considering all the drama ghost hunters had caused him, the boy was incredibly easy on ghost hunters. The boy was attempting to retrace Valerie's path. But being an inexperienced tracker, the task was proving difficult.

He supposed that he could tamper with her file at some point, and secretly get it back to her. Tonight, however, it would take his full effort, and a lot of luck, just to find her stuff and get out before sunrise.

The boy shivered, as a reflex that had nothing to do with the freezing cold. His pulse quickened, and his misty breath came out in short gasps. He knew the sensation well. It was the sensation he had whenever there was a ghost nearby.

The boy knew that ghosts made the forest more dangerous than any other forest in the county. After all, the other forests only had bugs, wild animals, and other natural hazards. They didn't have anything paranormal in them.

The forest had been haunted for over a year. Ever since the Fenton Portal was activated, ghosts who had escaped the Ghost Zone had been using the forest as a hide out. It really attracted them. It was nearby Amity Park, and the ghost hunters couldn't easily chase them through the forest. It was a perfect place to plot something.

The boy looked around, searching for any clue of the ghost's exact location. "Okay," he mumbled. "Where are you?"

Poorly stifled snickering in the upper branches of a nearby tree gave the ghost away. When the boy looked up, he saw an annoying blue specter looking down at him.

"Oh," he said. "It's just you, Box Ghost. You're no threat."

"No threat, am I?" the ghost protested. "Aren't I more of a threat than the intellectually inferior ghosts of the creatures of this forest?"

The boy rolled his eyes. "All the ghostly animals in here come out of the Ghost Zone. They didn't actually live here."

"They didn't use to! But they've been becoming ghosts after drinking that spilled ectoplasm nearer to the center of the forest!"

"Spilled ectoplasm?" the boy asked. "Toward the center of the forest? Box Ghost, you better take me to it, or I'll make sure the ghost hunters, no matter how much I don't want them in this forest, will have an advantage when it comes to tracking you down."

"You'll mean I'll be wanted?" the Box Ghost asked enthusiastically. "Awesome!" He flew off, cheering for himself.

"Something tells me that was the wrong thing to say," said the boy. He sighed, and said, "Maybe I should give that girl some of her purely defensive ghost hunting items back, just in case someone worse than the Box Ghost comes along."

* * *

Morning found the wolf nudging Valerie awake. Valerie groaned and rolled over. Instinctively pulling her blanket above her head, she grumbled, "No! Go away! Leave me alone!"

The wolf nudged Valerie again, a little more firmly this time. "NO!" she cried. "LEAVE ME ALONE, FENTON! IF YOU KEEP THIS UP, I SWEAR YOU'LL REGRET IT!"

The wolf suddenly backed up a few feet, as if startled by her drowsy outburst. Feeling a certain chill in the air, he remembered why he needed to wake Valerie up. The wolf let out a loud howl, one that reverberated in the cave.

Valerie finally woke up. "What?" she asked.

The wolf just darted outside, looking quickly between her and an animal trail in the too-quiet forest.

Getting the message, Valerie muttered, "I get it. You want me to follow you again. But did you really have to wake me up for this?"

The wolf darted a little ways into the path.

"Okay," Valerie said, "I'm coming."

When she caught up to the wolf, he bent down slightly, and pulled himself into a gap between the ground and a tree that was partially uprooted. When he was inside, he turned around, so that all Valerie could see was two yellow eyes that seemed to glow. It was an eerie effect.

"What are you doing?" Valerie wondered to herself.

Because of the quietness of the forest, she could now hear some rather disturbing noises clearly. Crunch! Snap! Thud. GGGRRRRRR . . .

The disturbing noises were getting closer. Valerie glanced back toward the cave, now appearing to be the size of a doll house, to take a peek. She saw a green glowing shape dashing wily-nilly through the forest, heading loosely in the direction of the cave.

'And I just had to leave my ghost hunting equipment behind,' she thought. 'This forest _is_ haunted! There just isn't any sign of Danny Fenton.'

Valerie ducked down, underneath the tree, to hide.

Silently, she thanked God for sending her the wolf to keep her safe in this deadly forest, and for the animal ability to sense danger coming. She also thought about how she could find her ghost hunting equipment again. It was likely that she would need it in the forest after all.

* * *

It seemed like forever before the wolf crawled out of the small enclosure, signaling that it was safe to go back out.

Valerie and her wolf friend went back to the cave. Valerie was not pleased when she saw the condition of the cave. The fur blankets were torn to shreds, the bowls of food and water smashed, and a few stray pieces of dried fruit lay on the dirt floor. Bear prints, with traces of green ectoplasmic fur around them, were all over the cave.

"That must've been one crazy ghost bear," she said. "But what am I going to do now, with no food or water, or ghost hunting equipment to defend myself with?"

The wolf slunk off slowly. It circled around a bush, as if examining it. Finally stopping his circling, the wolf started digging up the earth.

"What are you doing now?" Valerie asked.

The wolf stopped digging, and looked up at her.

Valerie walked over to the hole, and saw a cylindrical object lying in it. Valerie reached in, and picked it up.

Frowning, she wiped dirt off the object. It appeared to be a green plastic beverage thermos. The logo on the side said 'Fenton'.

"I've seen this design before," she said to the wolf, though she still didn't know why, "The Fentons used it to distinguish their products, back when they were still in the ghost hunting business. Their stuff did the strangest things sometimes. I wonder what this one was meant for."

She grinned. "I guess I'll figure it out, then. I finally have a weapon against ghosts in this forest!"

On a whim, she turned the thermos over in her hand, and saw something scribbled on with a permanent marker. "Property of Danny Fenton," she read.

Her heart speed up by what seemed like a thousand times to the girl. Signals raced up and down her spine like a living telephone wire, and her body trembled.

The thermos had belonged to Danny Fenton, the ghost she was after. It was a physical reminder that death can happen to anyone, when they least expect it. Even ghost hunters can become the thing they hate . . .

Valerie almost dropped the thermos. "Do you know what this is?" she asked the wolf.


	4. The Night's Hike

**Thanks, all you awesome reviewers!**

**Replies:**

**Phantom Voltage - Really? Thanks!  
**

**Luiz4200 - Stay tuned for some more clues coming Valerie's way!**

Disclaimer: I am not Butch Hartman. I am just a fan writer who appreciates reviews!

* * *

The Night's Hike

He hated to do this, but this was the last night all month that he could really dispose of that file. So he snuck into the cave, and shook the huntress girl until she started stirring. She woke up, looking annoyed.

"Hey," he said.

"It's the middle of the night! I'm not getting up!" she said, and lay back down.

"But this is urgent," he replied.

"What time is it anyway?"

"About an hour after sunset. But as I said, there's something urgent I need your help with."

"What do you want?"

"You said you're a ghost hunter, right? Where's your equipment?"

The huntress girl growled. "What do you care?" she snapped.

"I don't know if you've seen any ghost animals around, but lately, there are more than usual. I think something's affecting the local animals that's making them ghosts. I suspect that there's an ectoplasm spill somewhere in the forest, and ghost weapons often have ectoplasm in them. This is a recent problem. There were just the normal number of ghost animals escaped from the ghost world before you came."

"Hate to break it to you, but I don't exactly know where my weapons are. I ditched them when my hover board crashed."

"Could you show me where you left them then?" he asked.

"I don't think I could find my way back," she admitted.

"Could you at least try? I'll make it worth your while." The boy grinned and pulled out a frozen bowl of food and a container of water from behind his back. "Um, the containers are made from biodegradable materials," he said.

Rolling her eyes, the huntress said, "Of course, but . . . "

The boy laughed. "Don't worry about getting lost! I know my way around this forest. I won't let you get lost, or even if I do, I'm sure your wolf friend will come looking for you again."

"All right," she said. "I'm in."

"Great! Lead on."

As she lead the boy in the direction she'd thought she'd come from, Valerie took advantage of the boy not running off to ask him some questions.

"So you're an environmentalist?" she asked.

"Yeah, that's right. I come here as often as I can to clear up potential problems, keep track of the local populations, and such."

"But why do you keep coming to this forest if it's haunted by Fenton? They told me that all the other environmentalists left."

"Would you believe me if I told you that _Danny_ hasn't tried to hurt me, ghost hunter?" he teased. "All the other environmentalists may have left because they were afraid of him, but he's actually done the environment some good, whether he meant it or not. He frightened off the hunters and just overall reduced the traffic of any humans that are willing to wreck the environment in this forest."

"Would you stop calling me 'ghost hunter'?" Valerie asked, somewhat annoyed.

"But I don't know what else to call you," he replied.

"My name is Valerie, and yours is?"

He shrugged and said, "Well, my name, uh, I don't think it matters. I'll respond to anything."

"Just as stubborn as you were the other night. Are you ever going to tell me who you are?" she asked.

"You know who I am," he replied. "I thought I told you that I'm an environmentalist?"

"Whatever. Next question. Why wouldn't Danny Fenton try to hurt you? He scared off everyone else. Does he know you?"

The boy shrugged. "He went to Casper High. I went to Casper High. I um, I didn't really talk to him much. . . . Just about no one wanted to associate with him. Um, I kind of heard that some people . . . Some people believed that his parent's obsession with ghost hunting was hereditary. Speaking of ghost hunting, why did you become a ghost hunter anyway?"

Valerie glared at the boy. "I needed the money, okay? I have to fend for myself. I mean, I have my dad, but . . . Never mind, don't ask about my dad. With the money the Guys in White offered me, I couldn't refuse."

Valerie couldn't help but notice that the boy looked a lot more comfortable talking about her than talking about himself.

Alarmed, the boy asked. "You work for the Guys in White? B-but they're the ones that always, I mean, aren't they the ones who are the worst about trashing the environment because of ghost hunting?"

"I didn't feel like I had much of a choice when they offered me a job," she mumbled.

"Why not?"

"I'd rather not talk about it. Look," she said. "I've been here long enough that I'm willing to go back and tell them that they were mistaken about Fenton's ghost, and that they can leave this forest alone, if you'll just take me back to town with you."

The boy shook his head and said, "I can't. The only way back to town is too dangerous to pass in the winter. There's an ice-covered cliff we have to scale, and a giant, half-frozen river that's dangerous even in the safer seasons."

Valerie frowned. "If you can't get out of here, then why did you have to leave by sunset the other night?"

"I'm very allergic to UV rays," he replied. "I have to be back to my temporary shelter by the time the sun rises, or I'm in big trouble with the, um, the sunlight that can get through the barren treetops. If I get stuck in any other shelter, I, uh, can't use my environmental journals, and my uh, other stuff I use to keep an eye on the environment."

There it was again. He was nervous when he talked about himself. Besides his nervousness, there was something else that struck an off chord about it.

"Oh."

The boy looked around. "Hey, is that your stuff over there?" he asked, pointing to a distant spot.

"Yeah," she said. "It is."

They hiked over to her stuff. When they got there, the boy made an observation. "That suit doesn't look white. I thought you said you worked for the Guys in White."

Valerie shrugged, and explained. "They don't trust teenagers to keep their ghost hunting suits clean and white."

The boy looked at the pile of ghost hunting junk, and saw the corner of a folder poking out. The boy reached in and pulled it out, and started walking over to Valerie.

It was now nearly sunrise, and the ground was wet with dew. The boy tripped, and the contents of the folder fluttered in the air, before landing in the mud. The boy made to pick them up, but ended up getting the documents even more covered in mud in the process. Valerie noticed that he was making weird movements, almost like he was slipping some of the documents into his pockets.

"I'm sorry," he said quickly. "I can be a bit of a klutz sometimes. I'm kind of known at school for being so clumsy." He laughed nervously. "I guess I must've tripped over my own shoelace again."

He stood up, and Valerie noticed that both his shoes were tied securely. "Uh-huh," she said.

The boy looked up at the sky. "Look at that!" he said. "It's almost sunrise. I've got to go. Could you please clean up that bio-hazardous mess your weapons made?"

As the boy ran off, Valerie noticed something sliding out of a giant hole in the boy's back pocket.

"What's this?" she asked, as she picked it off the ground. As she examined it, she found that it was a note card.

Find out more about that ghost huntress, it said. When she tries to talk about you, remember that you are an environmentalist who is very allergic to the sun. DO NOT LET HER GET THAT FILE!


	5. The Fight at the Riverside

**And the story continues! I just hope I'm doing a decent job. I haven't had very much experience at all writing for the "mystery" genre.  
**

**Review Replies:**

**Kiomori - You think so? Maybe. I guess you'll have to wait and see either way as Valerie gets more clues in this mystery fic.  
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**Luiz4200 - Yeah. That would be the logical thing for her to do.**

Disclaimer: Ownership? Me? Now I _know_ I wandered off into the world of daydreams again.

* * *

The Fight at the Riverside

Angrily, Valerie picked up the flash cards, what remained of the file, and her weapons, and returned to the cave. The wolf was sitting in the cave, as if waiting for her. "Look at these!" she shouted to the wolf. "He was lying to me all along!"

The wolf cringed at her shouting. Valerie said, noticing, "I'm sorry. It's just that I'm sick of that stupid boy, whoever he really is." She put down her weapons at the wolf's feet, causing him to slowly back away, growling at the weapons.

"Not you too," she said. "You're the only real company I have in this dumb forest."

* * *

The next four weeks were slow and lonely.

There weren't any signs of ghosts, so Valerie didn't really look through the file much. She mostly just kept to the cave and daydreamed about going home, not that she had much to go home to. It was just her and her dad. She wasn't around enough to have any friends.

She didn't even have a job she'd picked for herself. She'd only agreed to work for the Guys in White because she needed the money to support herself and her dad after her dad got laid off. The company he was working for was losing money, so they cut down on his department.

The Guys in White had recruited her after watching her use martial arts in self defense. They were looking to start a teenaged ghost hunting team. Teenagers, they'd figured, would be more able to grasp the thinking of teenage ghosts than adults.

She never would've chosen to get into ghost hunting by herself. She'd had no particular reason to hunt ghosts. She had no particular grudges toward them. She didn't even believe that they existed until her first encounter with one on assignment from the Guys in White. Every reason she'd learned about why ghosts must be exterminated she'd learned through her job.

She did glance through Fenton's file a little. She couldn't find any pictures, so she only skimmed through Danny Fenton's biography instead. Apparently, he had two friends, and was considered a 'loser' at Casper High. His parents were always trying to involve him and his sister in ghost hunting, despite their constant protests. Overall, he was pushed around so much that she might've felt sorry for him, if she'd actually known him.

There wasn't any sign of that boy that had lied to her for those weeks either. Valerie guessed he had realized that she might've found her note cards and was too much of a coward to come back. That was fine by her. She wanted to forget him. Gradually, she stopped mentioning him, even to complain, altogether.

But then he came back. "Oh no," she said, as she saw him approaching.

"Hey, Valerie!" he called. "What's up?"

Stubbornly, Valerie turned her back on him. "Go away! I'm not talking to you!" she snapped.

"And I wasn't planning on talking to you either," he replied. "But it gets awfully lonely when your only companions are animals."

'Ooo, he touched a nerve,' Valerie thought. 'Why did he have to say that?'

"I was hoping that you'd had enough time to calm down from the incident with the note cards to be reasonable," he continued. "I know you found them. Will you let me explain?"

"Why should I believe you?" Valerie retaliated. "Everything you've ever told me was a lie. And worse than that, you lied to protect the ghost I came here to hunt!"

"Look, I'm only trying to do the right thing. I'm protecting him because he isn't the bad guy that people make him out to be. He just wants to be left alone. He hasn't hurt anyone, nor does he want anyone to get hurt. That includes people like you who are here to hurt him!"

"I still don't see why I should trust you. You've lied to me, you keep running off on me, and you won't tell me who you are. You won't even tell me how to get out of this forest!"

"I told you, you can't get out during the winter!"

"What if it's just another one of your lies? You haven't giving me any reason to trust anything you say."

"I know, and I'm sorry," he said. "I can show you the way to go back, if you wish, but will still be impassible until all the snow and ice are gone."

"Really?" she asked.

"You don't have to take my word for it," he promised. "I'll show you!" He led her to a dirt trail, marked with stone karens every so often.

"The trail was put here to help hunters find their way to the part of the forest they're allowed to hunt in," he explained. "There are marked boundaries once they're there. Between the trails and the boundary markings, they can't simply claim that they were hunting in the wildlife preserve section of the forest because they were lost."

Valerie just nodded, not really caring about hunters getting lost or not.

"Oh look ahead!" The boy said. "That's the part of the trail that's impassible this time of year!" There was a partially frozen river, with slime and muck in it. Then there was a little stretch of land between there and a ditch that was an old river bed, where the river used to run it's course. Then there was an icy cliff that had been formed back when the old river was eroding the ground away in that spot. "But it's still dangerous other times of the year, of course. People used to sign liability papers to come here."

"See the river?" he asked. "Not a good place for a swim. 'Gators will live anywhere that there's enough water for them. They'll hide, and wait for some unsuspecting being to come close to them. The cliff? Most people have to use ropes to get up and down."

Valerie frowned. "Are you sure there's no other way to get up there?"

The boy laughed. "Well, I suppose you could ask a ghost to fly you up there, just short of where they planted the Blood Blossoms. But you can guess how most ghosts would react to that, especially coming from a ghost hunter."

"Blood Blossoms?" she asked. "Smart."

"Yeah," he agreed. "The ghost you're hunting couldn't get out to cause havoc on Amity Park even if he wanted to. He can't get out!" The boy neglected to mention that there had to be some way out, because the Box Ghost had managed to get in quite recently.

"So are you ready to explain now?" she asked.

"Explain what?"

"The whole truth - everything you know about Fenton, why you keep running off, your name . . . "

The boy just gave Valerie a horrified look and shook his head. "I wish I could, but I can't!" he said. "I can't trust you with this. I can't trust anyone with this. I can't even trust my own parents with this!"

"You are lying to me again!" Valerie accused. "Just like you were when you said that you said you didn't know Fenton very well, just like you were when you said that you were allergic to the sun, just like you were when you said you were an environmentalist who needed my help cleaning up an ecto plasmic spill in the middle of the forest!"

"Wanting the ectoplasm cleaned up wasn't a lie," he said. "It was changing the local animals into crazed ghosts. The less harmful ghosts around here the better."

"But you scattered the contents of Fenton's file in the mud!" she said. "Wait a minute, something looked a little funny about that. Did you take any of those documents?"

"Well, I . . . "

"You _did_ didn't you? No wonder why I couldn't find a picture of Fenton! That was classified information!"

"Valerie I . . . "

Valerie was not listening. Instead, one of her feet was making contact with the boy's stomach.

"Oof!" he said. "So you're resorting to fighting, are you?"

She replied with a punch to the face. The boy was faster this time, and sidestepped. Valerie's fist hit the tree instead. "Y'know, normally I wouldn't hit a girl, but since you insist on fighting . . . "

The boy blocked Valerie's next punch, and sent a foot to her knee. The two were punching, and kicking, and otherwise fighting fiercely. They were pretty equally matched, and it was not clear whether either of them would emerge the victor.

They never finished their fight. Both of them noticed something else first. "Oh no, it's a ghost," the boy groaned. "And definitely not a friendly one at that."

Skulker was floating above the forest floor, grinning, and aiming his missiles at the two of them. "Two for the price of one!" he said.


	6. Your Name?

**Luiz4200** - She hasn't quite made that much of a connection between them. She might be getting close though . . . But then again, maybe not. Just read and see. :)

Disclaimer: I will give you a full detailed claimer/disclaimer at the end. For now, I will suffice it to say that I do not own Danny Phantom.

* * *

Your Name?

"Valerie, duck!" the boy cried.

"Why should . . . "she started to ask, but she saw the missile heading at her and ducked into the cover of some bushes. The boy dodged some missiles himself, and hid behind a tree. He army-crawled over to Valerie as the ghost flew around the tree to get him.

"Please tell me you brought some ghost hunting weapons," he whispered.

"Of course I did. I've always carried some on me since I got my weapons back. My encounter with a ghost bear made it seem absolutely necessary."

They heard the ghost growling to himself, and heard some rustles followed by explosions. Apparently the ghost was shooting at random bushes, hoping to get lucky and hit them.

"What do you have?" the boy asked quickly.

"I've got a small ghost gun, and a Fenton weapon I found."

"You can keep the gun. Could I see a thermos?"

She asked, "How did you know it was a thermos?" But she handed it over anyway.

"Fight the ghost now, ask questions later," he replied. He jumped out of the bushes and snuck up behind the ghost. "Hey, Skulker!" he shouted.

The ghost turned around. "You . . . "

"Yes, I know it's me. Let's just skip to the part where your butt gets kicked." The boy jumped and rolled out of the way as more projectiles came flying his way. The boy ran, and the ghost followed. He ran past the bushes where Valerie was hiding. "You've got a clear shot!" he called.

Valerie took aim from the bushes and fired. Her shot hit Skulker. The momentum sent him crashing into a tree. Skulker hit the tree hard, and fell down to the ground. Valerie ran closer, firing shots off. The boy approached the fallen ghost, and sucked him into the thermos.

Valerie examined the boy with new interest. "You wouldn't happen to be a ghost hunter, would you?" she asked.

The boy laughed. "Me, a ghost hunter?" But when he saw the serious look on Valerie's face, he said, "Yeah, I've done more than my fair share of ghost hunting."

"Then why do you protect Fenton, you traitor? If you're a ghost hunter, you're supposed to hunt the ghosts, not protect them!"

"Unless of course, you're a ghost hunter because you're a ghostly hunter," he responded, laughing. "But seriously though, I don't think I'm a traitor. I just think of ghost hunting more along the lines of police work. You go after the ghosts who are a threat to public safety, and protect the ones who aren't. The only difference is that you don't need a badge to be a ghost hunter."

"But Fenton is a threat to public safety," Valerie said.

"Danny's no threat to anyone, despite what people say. People tend to exaggerate. I'm positive that he hasn't done anything worse than to yell at them to 'Go away!' The yelling part was only because he couldn't deal with all the emotions that came with the upsetting, and very major, change that happened to him. He just wants to be left alone."

"Really?" Valerie asked.

"Really! Besides, you saw those Blood Blossoms, right? Even if he wanted to create chaos around town, he wouldn't know any way to get past those things."

"Fine. You really want to talk?" she asked. "Then okay, we can talk. Let's start with your name."

"If you must have something to call me by, then you can call me Arlan. Please don't ask again about my real name. I have my reasons for withholding it."

"Arlan, huh? Finally this is the first time you've given me an answer!"

"Yeah, sorry 'bout that," he said.

* * *

Valerie had a new dream later that night. _She was no longer trying to get reception on her G.P.S. Instead, she was on the trail in front of the semi-frozen river. "There has to be a way across," she mumbled. Her eyes wandered up and down the bank._

_Arlan appeared, laughing. "Arlan!" she called out. "How do I get across? There has to be a bridge or something!"_

_Arlan found her comment hilarious, and laughed even harder. "I'm NOT Arlan, y'know. I just told you that you could call me that. You can't find out who I am. You'll never find out who I am, Valerie. You'll never get out of this forest, either. You're helpless around here!"_

"_Just show me the way across, Arlan!" she shouted. But Arlan disappeared, just as her wolf friend came running out of some bushes, whimpering. "What is it?" she asked. Listening closer, she could hear sobbing sounds coming from the bushes the wolf had run from. Instantly, she knew who it was. "Fenton? What's he crying about?"_

_Valerie went into the bushes to find out. The ghost, still clothed in all black, was lying face-down on the ground. His build was scrawny in her dream, reflecting what she'd learned about his social life before he died. "Danny Fenton?"_

_Fenton propped himself on one ecto plasmic arm, and turned to face her. His features still weren't certain, but at the moment they looked a bit like Arlan's. Perhaps knowing very little about both of them, and them both evading her in some way - either in personal subjects, or physically - had something to do with it. His skin was currently a familiar ghostly green, and his eyes were red. He had ink-black hair that curled at the tips._

"_Why are you crying?"_

"_Just leave me alone," he said._

_Arlan reappeared. "You'd better leave him alone, Valerie. I'm warning you."_

_Valerie's wolf friend started whimpering again. "What is it now?" she asked. The wolf's yellow eyes were looking up, in the direction of the full moon. Valerie followed his line of vision up and saw that he wasn't looking toward the full moon at all, but was looking fearfully at a giant green ghostly wolf that was flying at them._

_Someone screamed._ Valerie was screaming too, as she awoke. "I've got to remember not to talk to Arlan before going to bed."

Valerie slid out of bed, and went outside for some fresh air. She was surprised that it wasn't daylight yet. It was getting close, though.

She saw something move in her peripheral vision. Valerie looked over and saw the first sign of ghosts in weeks. Actually, it was more than a sign. It was an actual ghost. The ghost looked like a boy with long, untidy white hair covering his face. His hair covered most of his features, but she could see glowing green eyes peeking out from under his bangs. His skin was an odd color for a ghost. It looked more like the skin tone of a Caucasian.

The ghost looked more surprised than harmful. His eyes darted back and forth between Valerie and the horizon.

"Who are you?" Valerie asked cautiously.

The ghost gasped out, "I can't let anyone see me like this!" as he turned away. He flew off, going invisible before he got very far.


	7. Full Moon

**I see some of you are starting to get it, or have gotten it for a while. This chapter shouldn't really surprise you then. But the story is not over, it's still got a ways to go.  
**

**Review Replies:**

**Kiomori - **Close, and about ready to figure it out. Seeing Phantom was a surprise? How about I make Phantom have a major part in this chapter?

**Luiz4200 -** I guess it is taking a lot longer than it should for her to figure it out.

:)

Disclaimer: I own not Valerie, I own not Danny, I own not Phantom. I own not anything from the show. Wait a minute, why was I using that sort of sentence structure?

* * *

Full Moon

After seeing the ghost the night before, Valerie decided she'd better spend the day reading Fenton's file. She already knew about his life from his biography. She looked for any physical descriptions. (There weren't any. She suspected that was thanks to Arlan.) Valerie shook her head.

She decided that maybe she'd better see what was left in the file. She obviously wasn't getting anywhere by looking for specific documents. Other than Fenton's biography, there were a few witness reports with polygraph test results, and some comments form his friends and family. There was also a map of all reported sightings.

'A map?' Valerie thought. 'I can use it to look for another way out of this forest!' Valerie scanned the map, but she couldn't find another way out on foot. 'Arlan was right,' she realized. 'We're trapped in here for the winter.'

Valerie looked at the witness reports next. As far as she could tell, no one was really harmed, just frightened. 'He was right, again!' she thought. 'Why couldn't he have been honest all along, instead of trying to pretend he didn't know anything?'

Arlan was a mystery. She really doubted that Arlan was his real name. Who was he? She guessed he must have some motivation more to keep her from Fenton than just doing the right thing. There had to be a connection between them. Maybe she should reread Fenton's biography, looking for every teenage boy that would have a reason to protect Fenton's ghost.

She only found one name, Tucker Foley. There was no description of Tucker to go on, but she had his comments on his friend's haunting of the forest:

"Danny? He's a good dude. He'd be more likely to rescue kittens than to hurt people and chase them off." he'd said. "If he's chasing them off, he must have a good reason."

Valerie read through the rest of the comments, and waited for Arlan to show up. He came a little after sunset. "What's your name, really?" she asked. "Tucker?"

He just shook his head. "Val, if I told you that a ghost wanted to talk to you, just talk, would you talk to him? No weapons?"

"Let me guess, Fenton?"

He shook his head. "Actually, no. the ghost's name is Phantom. He's a ghostly ghost hunter. He says you saw him the other night. You're kind of lucky, y'know. Normally he doesn't' stick around to talk to humans."

"Oh, and he spoke to you to get you to get me to talk to him? First Fenton, now Phantom! What are you, the Ghost Whisperer?"

"No, not exactly," he replied. "Will you talk to Phantom, no weapons?"

"Me and you are going to meet a ghost without any weapons?" she asked.

Arlan shook his head again. "I need to restock on food," he replied. "I better scout around and see what I can find. But I could still lead you to Phantom if you agree to talk with him."

"It feels like a trap going to meet a ghost without any weapons," she said.

"He didn't attack you last night, did he?"

Valerie growled. "I'll talk to Phantom because I want to see what he wants, but I'll bring a ghost gun, just in case." She picked up a gun. "You'd better start leading, Arlan."

Arlan led her to a large fallen tree running alongside the hunters' path. "Phantom should be here in a few minutes. If you'll excuse me, Valerie, I've got to go now."

Phantom showed up sooner than Arlan had predicted. He approached Valerie cautiously. "Valerie, right?" he asked. "The Red Huntress, working for the Guys in White?"

He glanced at what she was holding in her hands. "I don't blame you for bringing a gun," he said. "It would be pretty stupid of you to come here to meet a ghost you don't know without one."

Valerie shrugged. "Yeah. I suppose Arlan told you about me? He told me a little about you too - he said you're a ghostly ghost hunter."

Phantom nodded. "Yeah, that's right. Your friend told me a little more than who you are and who you're looking for. He also told me what you're after. He told me you're looking for Danny Fenton."

"That's right. What's it to ya?"

The ghost smiled. "Maybe I know some things about Danny."

That got Valerie's attention. "I'm listening. You better not give me any fibs, ghost."

"Of course not," he said. "Fibs wouldn't help anyone in this forest. You've been a ghost hunter for a while, right?"

Valerie nodded.

"Tell me, have you encountered any ghosts that can disguise themselves, to better fit among human society?"

"Once, but what does that have to do with Fenton? All the evidence I've gathered says that he's not the type of ghost to masquerade as a human. That would go against his motivation."

"That's not what I was getting at. Fenton's case is special, and the only way I know to describe it is to compare it to similar circumstances. But since that statement didn't work, let me try again. Have you ever heard of a human disguising himself as a ghost?"

"Are you saying that he's still alive? That he isn't a ghost?"

"More or less," the ghost replied.

"I think I need more explanation than that."

"Fenton is not a ghost," he said slowly. "But what he's become scares people about as much as a ghost would. You see, there was this ghost a while back. She had more than just the norm as far as powers go, 'cause she was a witch as well."

"She was on a rampage," Phantom recalled, "threatening to turn little kids into toads and such. None of the ghost hunters could stop her - not the Fenton parents, and not me. Danny isn't one the people in Amity Park would describe as 'brave', but after seeing a ghost threatening his home, and no one else being able to stop it, he decided that he would try to stop the witch."

"I went along with him to try to make sure that he didn't get hurt," Phantom continued. "He was doing okay up against the witch-ghost, but then he wound up insulting her and got us both cursed."

"Cursed?" Valerie interrupted, "How so?"

"The witch cursed us, and then showed us what she'd done to us in a mirror. We saw what we'd become, and fled to the woods. Only those who know the curse are able to recognize us, well, most of the time anyway. So far, you are the only one to know about the curse besides the two of us."

"What do you mean by 'most of the time'?"

"We get three nights each lunar month to be what we were before the curse. We get the night of the actual full moon, and the two nights surrounding the full moon, when the moon looks like it could be full moon. It's kind of surprising actually. You'd think a witch wouldn't give us that kind of deal on a curse." Phantom sighed. "The curse comes back at sunrise of course."

"So the curse on Danny is kind of like a ghost - or some other monster disguising himself to be what he's not, but not really, because he is what he's disguised as. It's also kind of like a human pretending to be a monster, because he does scare people, more or less intentionally, but not really, because he's forced to actually be that monster. Does that make sense?" Phantom asked.

A connection formed inside of Valerie. The first time she'd met Arlan she hadn't been paying attention to the moon's phase. But he'd come back two nights later, and then disappeared for a little less than a calender month. He'd only come back the night before.

Valerie looked up at the full moon, thinking of more evidence that strengthened the new connection. He knew exactly what kind of Fenton weapon she had, and how to use it, for example.

"The full moon is beautiful, isn't it?" Phantom asked.

Valerie agreed with the ghost, but she had a question for him: "Arlan is Danny Fenton, isn't he?" When she looked over at Phantom, a smile was tugging at his lips.

"Maybe you should ask him that yourself," the ghost replied.

"He'll just lie to me again!" she protested.

"Trust me, he wants to talk about it, but he's too scared to. He lies when he's scared. It's a bad habit of his. He's scared to talk about it to anyone. The fact that you came here with orders to destroy him just frightens him even more. But I think he's starting to warm up to you. It may be just because you're the only other human in the forest. I don't know, and it doesn't matter. What matters is that he may be more ready to talk than you think, if he only knew that you know who he is and are not going to hurt him."

"Tell me why I should talk to him again?"

"Other than just because he needs help, you came here to stop him from haunting the forest, didn't you? He isn't going to stop scaring people off until the curse is lifted, and he can go home. He feels that the curse is impeding on his freedom to live and to look where and how he wants to. We both feel that way."

Phantom looked up at the sky. "That is why I think the full moon is beautiful. Only around full moon do we have the freedom to at least be what we are. Freedom is beautiful."

Valerie knew she had another question for the ghost about the curse, but she'd forgotten it. So instead, she asked, "Is there anything else I should know?"

The ghost shook his head. "Not that I can think of at the moment, but I think you should talk to Danny A-S-A-P. There's the rest of tonight, and tomorrow night, then you'll have to wait for a few weeks."

"Great! He said he was off looking for food tonight, and considering the scarcity of food, he might be off tomorrow night as well."

"Don't believe that," Phantom advised her. "He's got plenty of food. Likely as not he's been listening to our whole conversation. If you'll excuse me, I've got to patrol for any hostile ghosts that might come. They've found a way past the Blood Blossoms, so someone has got to stop them before they can plot something and return to Amity Park to try to pull it off. You'll stop any if you see them, won't you?"

Valerie shrugged. "I am a ghost hunter."

Phantom smiled. "Good. I'm sorry, but I've got to go. Ghost hunting and patrol y'know. . . . "

After Phantom flew off, Valerie took a look around, looking for signs that someone was there. "Okay Fenton, you should be around here somewhere. . . . " She thought she heard something behind a tree. "Gotcha!"

The boy she was looking for was there, kneeling behind a tree, and scrambling to pick up papers off the ground. They were the missing documents from the case file, if she was assuming correctly.

"Danny Fenton?" she asked. He looked up sharply. Bingo! She had him. "I know that's your real name, and I know why you disappear at sunrise."

"I know," he whispered. "Phantom knows me too well. He struck the nail on the head when he said 'likely as not he's been listening to our whole conversation'. I did hear the whole thing."


	8. The Wolf

Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom, in any way, shape, or form!

**Happy Thanksgiving America!**

**Review Replies:**

**Kiomori: **Yes, civility is nice. Of course Valerie will try to lift that curse. Thanks for reviewing, Happy Holidays!

**Luiz4200:** Are Fenton and Phantom separate? I don't think that's the way I wrote the scene where he gets cursed at the very beginning. Yeah, that's another cover story. :) Happy Thanksgiving!

:)

* * *

The Wolf

Valerie remembered what she was going to ask Phantom the next morning. What did the curse do to them when it was acting on them? And how could it be broken?

The wolf came in, limping. "Hey boy," Valerie greeted. She still couldn't believe how tame it acted. Weren't wolves supposed to be wild?

The wolf came over to her, making a few pained noises. She could now see that the wolf was covered in mud, and had twigs sticking out of its fur. "Let me see your paw," she said. There was a splinter in the wolf's paw pad, and there was also a sticky purple glowing substance.

"Ectoplasm!" she gasped. She wiped it off the wolf's paw. "Just a sec," she said. "Let me pull that splinter out." She reached for her First Aid kit and pulled out a pair of tweezers. "This won't hurt long," she said, yanking the splinter out of the wolf's paw.

The wolf yelped a bit, but then was still. "But this is going to sting." Valerie wiped around where the splinter was with an antibacterial wipe. She wrapped the paw up, just to keep infection out, and moved on to pulling twigs out of the wolf's fur.

"I wish I knew where you got ectoplasm on your paw, though. Ectoplasm means ghosts, and ghosts are serious business." Valerie wasn't finished pulling thins out of the wolf's fur when he jumped up, and ran toward the mouth of the cave. He stopped, and turned back to look at Valerie.

"That was unexpected, but you have done that before. Okay, lead on." Valerie could hardly keep up with the wolf's movement through the forest. When he finally came to a stop, the tone was worse than what she'd been expecting.

There was ecto plasmic residue everywhere. There wasn't just purple residue, like she'd found on the bottom of the wolf's paw, but there was green residue as well. There had to have been at least two ghosts here.

The worst part of the scene had to do with location, and an apparently natural disaster. They were right next to the cliff where the protective line of Blood Blossoms was planted. There were visible signs of a landslide, and there was a hole in the line of Blood Blossoms at the top of the cliff.

'Oh no,' Valerie thought. 'This is not good.' She knew that the line of Blood Blossoms kept ghosts out of the forest. She knew that Fenton was no threat, but could she and Danny really hold off a lot of ghosts if the forest became overrun with them?

* * *

Valerie was worried. She knew something had to be done about the gap in the Blood Blossom line, but she didn't know what. She couldn't get up to the top to replant, and wait for the spot to grow back. Waiting for them to grow back naturally would take too long. She could not contact anyone outside the forest.

Those she could contact were inside the forest, and she could only contact them three nights a month. There wasn't a bunch those inside the forest could do about the gap either.

Eventually, sunset came and so did Fenton, limping. "Hey, Val!" he called.

"Danny, we've got a problem. There's a gap in the line of Blood Blossoms!"

"You found it too? Phantom said he found it last night, a few hours away from dawn. He said he ran into Ember McLain." he said. Danny explained that she was the ghost of a rock star who hypnotizes her audience. "Phantom got into a fight with her. He got hurt, and she got away!"

"So maybe the problem the gap in the Blood Blossoms was going to cause is already here. We've got a bigger problem now."

Danny laughed nervously. "Yeah, no kidding. Normally she's no threat without an audience, because her power comes from people chanting her name, but Phantom says she's learned a new trick. Apparently, she's learned how to sing minions into existence to attack for her."

"So she hypnotizes people, and can create minions to attack for her?"

"Right," said Danny. "Speaking of Ember, I've got something for you." He reached into his front pocket. "They're called Fenton Phones. They're really useful when Ember starts to sing. They protect the wearer from being hypnotized by filtering out ghostly static."

Valerie put them on. "You've got some too, right?"

Danny shrugged. "Don't worry I'll be okay. I've built up resistance to her weaker hypnotism, and there aren't exactly any large human crowds around here to make her stronger."

"So what's with your limp?"

"I just stepped on something and hurt my foot, that's all. It's taken care of."

"Oh, I see," Valerie said. "Any ideas on how to deal with the gap, and the extra ghosts?"

"Phantom says he'll fight ghosts when he runs across them, when he can that is. If it weren't for the curse he'd do more but . . . " Danny shrugged and let the rest of the sentence slide. If everyone keeps their ghost weapons close, I think we'll be okay. I hope. You've got to get out of here as soon as that part of the trail is passable if you don't want to deal with extra ghosts."

"You've got to leave too, y'know."

Danny shook his head. "No, I can't. I'm still cursed. I can't go back while I'm still cursed."

"Why not? It's not part of the curse, is it?"

"No, but . . ."

"Then why not?"

"I can't face them like this. My friends, my family . . . I'm still cursed. I can't face them while I'm cursed. You heard Phantom last night, didn't you? They'll be scared of me. What the curse does to me . . . that'll scare them."

"You keep talking about how you can't go back because of the curse. Could you tell me more about it? What does it do? How is it broken?"

"I don't know how it's broken. I'm sorry. I honestly don't. As for what it does, it turns me into an animal. Y'know, the type people shouldn't mess with."

"What type of animal?"

"A wolf. I've been around a lot more than you've been thinking." As Danny explained, Valerie got what he was talking about. He was the wolf she'd saved. His unwolf-like behavior made a lot more sense in new light.

"So you don't think like an animal when you're a wolf?"

"No. I still think like a human."

"Then why don't you go back?"

"Do you think anyone would recognize me as a wolf?"

"Go back on a night when you're human. If you explain things to your folks, I'm sure they would help."

Danny shook his head. "This goes beyond explaining things to Mom and Dad. If people see me, they'll shoot! It's safer for me inside the forest while the curse remains, hostile ghosts and all. The strangest part is that I went back one night, in disguise, to see if Amity Park was okay, and the witch was gone. Apparently she hadn't been vanquished in a fight. She just left. She cursed me and left, when I thought she was going to do a lot more damage to my home. I don't know why."

"I don't know why either, but I think you'd better tell me how to reverse the curse, so you can go back home."

"I don't know how to reverse it. The witch didn't exactly tell me."

"Oh."

Danny pulled the Fenton Thermos out. "I don't know about you, but I think I better go track down Ember McLain before she causes any more trouble."

Valerie smiled. "I guess I'm with you on that one," she said. She got out her ghost weapons from where she kept them. "Okay, I'm ready. Let's go."


	9. Blasters

**It's been a couple weeks, but this chapter is here now. Merry Christmas, everyone!  
**

**Review Replies:**

**Luiz4200 - Well considering she got told exactly what the curse did last chapter, I don't think that's going to be an issue.**

**Kiomori - Thanks! I hope this chapter is satisfactory.**

**Dark knightress - Thanks!**

**:)**

Disclaimer: I only own a certain ghostly witch. That's all!

* * *

Blasters

Operative O surveyed the teens standing in front of him with intensity. "You and your friends are applying for jobs here, is that correct?"

"Yes, that's right!"

"Your interview begins now. What makes you think you can be ghost hunters?"

"My friends and I, we're more than just buddies, we're a team! Ghosts don't scare us. We're willing to kick ghost butt!"

"Ever used ghost weapons before?"

"No, but we can learn, can't we guys?" the leader asked.

"Yeah!" shouted the rest of the team, to which one of the kids added, "We play laser tag, paint ball, and go shoot clay pigeons a lost - we're good aims. And we're all in the same Tae Kwan Doe Class."

"As you can see, we've all got some qualifications, and we are ready to learn what we've gotta to kick ghost butt!"

Operative O smiled. "Okay, let's see what you've got," he said. He led them to a large training room. "Your performance will be observed and evaluated through one-way windows. A simulation of a ghost invasion will start in five minutes. You will have ten minutes to defeat as many ghosts as you can."

The kids were good, Operative O had to admit as he watched them in the simulation. They had talent. They were defeating more ghosts than many of their adult teams. But his opinion wasn't the only one that mattered. There were other Operatives in the observation room, who had been waiting to evaluate the teens.

"It seems to me like that team of kids right there would make a more valuable addition to the Guys in White than the Red Huntress ever was," one operative said.

"But are they good enough?" another asked. "If Daniel Fenton was able to defeat Valerie, he must be a bigger threat that we thought. Are those kids good enough to defeat that ghost? We don't want more families suing us for the loss of their brats."

"You know why we must put priority on Fenton," O replied.

"I know he's a threat, and I know that billionaire, and mayor, Vlad Masters bribed us to put top priority on Fenton, but can we ensure those kids will make it back alive?"

"That's a risk we'll have to take. We're in a time crunch here! We must exterminate Fenton before he has a chance to strike."

They discussed the teens' employment, and sent Operative O to give them the details. He was waiting for them as they left the simulator. "The Guys in White have discussed your performance," he informed them. "Congratulations, we have a team position to offer you under the name 'the Blasters Team'. You will wear specialized ghost hunting suits while on duty, if you choose to accept, and to protect your civilian identities, you will go by the following code names as long as you are in your suits: Vid, Thrash, and Download."

"Awesome!" they shouted. "We've got code names!"

The Blasters Team cheered.

"Your first mission is coming up," O warned. "The ghostly target, name of Fenton, is very dangerous, so he must be destroyed A.S.A.P. We can only give you a week or training before you leave. Good luck."

* * *

Ember McLain flew into a clearing, only to see a lone wolf growling at her. "I know that's you, dipstick!" she said. "I saw you change. Now beat it pooch, before I sing a little song for you."

Danny stopped growling for a moment to give three short howls.

"What was that, Phantom?" Ember asked. Within seconds, she got her answer. She heard the snapping of twigs at such intervals that it seemed someone was running toward them. A teenage girl came, carrying ghost weapons.

The girl was Valerie, of course. "Thanks for the signal," she said to Danny. Valerie took a look at the ghost. "Is this Ember McLain?" she asked.

Danny nodded.

"Okay then," Valerie said. "Let's get her!" Girl and wolf went after her, each with some difficulty, either because of the terrain, or from lack of access to their ghost powers when a wolf.

Ember created some minions with her song. While Valerie was distracted by Ember's minions, Danny was trying to find an attack that would work against an intangible ghostly rock star. It was tough, but after almost an hour, they managed to defeat Ember.

As Ember was being sucked into the Fenton thermos, she cried out in defiance, "You may have stopped me, but you won't stop the others that are coming!"

Valerie capped the thermos and groaned. "Oh great, more ghosts are on their way," she said. "We've really got to find a way to deal with that Blood Blossom problem before they get here and things really get out of hand."

Danny knew it was a little late for that. He saw what was behind Valerie. It was the ghostly witch who had given him his curse! His fur bristled, and his snout was pulled back into a snarl.

"Danny?" Valerie asked.

Danny saw the ghost send a red streak at Valerie from her wand. He pounced at Valerie, knocking her to the ground.

"Danny! What was that for?" Valerie asked, clearly upset. But then she saw the red streak go flying over their heads, and hit a tree. The tree was instantly uprooted, and spun fiercely in the air. It hit the ground with a resounding thud, turned into dust, and scattered.

Danny got off of Valerie, and nodded to the ghost behind her. She turned, and saw the ghostly witch.

"Hello, Phantom!" said the witch. "Plasmius changed his mind on what he wants with you. He made me a deal to come for you. He only wanted you out of the way last time, while he carried out his scheme. Now, he wants me to finish you off."

Danny couldn't say anything because of the curse, but he was looking as angry as a wolf could. 'Plasmius!' he thought. 'He was behind this the whole time!' Danny felt more worried as another thought came to him, 'What new scheme of his did he want me out of the way for?'

Danny didn't have much time to think, as the ghostly witch was on the offensive, and was sending a tide of spells his way.


	10. Sensors

**It's late - I know - sorry!**

Review Replies:

Luiz4200: Nah, they're not working for Vlad, are they? I guess Danny knows about Vlad, but it's really not important to this story. They are good questions though!

Dark knightress: A final update, just for you. (and all my other readers, but you really are awesome because you reviewed!)

Mizuki hikari: I'm glad you like it.

:)

* * *

The Sensor

They may have defeated the ghostly witch by coaxing her into a clearing against the cliff where the wall of Blood Blossoms remained unbroken, and where Valerie had a clear shot, but after defeating the ghost, Danny remained a wolf. They hadn't even managed to squeeze any information about undoing the curse out of her.

Danny the wolf sat sulking under the crescent moon long after Valerie went to bed. He watched the few clouds in the heavens float slowly across the starry sky. It was almost dawn. How he wished that he could see the sun rise as a human!

But as the early sunlight fell upon him, something marvelous happened. He was changing back into a human! His fur thinned, his snout was turning into a human nose, and his tail was disappearing. Danny looked at his human hands, in not the light of the full moon, but in the light of the day. A grin spread over his face as he realized that defeating the witch did reverse the curse.

"The curse is gone!" he shouted. "I'm me!" Danny felt jumping for joy as he ran through the forest to show Valerie. He saw the familiar shelter ahead and sped up. "Val!" he called, "Val! Val! You did it! You broke the curse! We just had to wait 'til sunrise!"

He reached the cavern, and found her asleep. She really looked like she needed the sleep, so he decided against waking her up. "I guess I'll just thank her later," he said. "Fighting that witch must've worn her out." Smiling slightly, he went ghost and flew in the daylight for the first time in a long while.

* * *

Valerie woke in the afternoon. She was getting up and stretching when a voice came from outside the cave.

"Valerie?"

She turned and saw that it was Phantom. It was Phantom, who'd said he'd shared the same curse as Danny. Apparently not. She opened her mouth to give the ghost a piece of her mind, but Phantom was already speaking.

"Thanks! The curse broke at sunrise. Danny told me what you did."

Valerie nodded, processing this new information. "Where is he?" she asked.

"Danny? I gave him a ride home. I thought his family would be happy to see him. He says thanks too."

She smiled. It was really god that Fenton had gone home. He'd seemed so reluctant to return when she'd first him, but that might've been because of the curse. But it still wouldn't be exactly easy to go home when you knew everyone thought you were dead for so long.

Then Valerie realized how long she'd been missing. Her dad must've been worried about her. Were the police looking anywhere close to where she was?

"Do you want a lift out of here?" Phantom asked. "It's the least I could do after you saved me and Danny from that curse."

Valerie wasn't usually the type to accept anything a ghost offered her, but this ghost was the most trustworthy of his kind that she'd ever met. Besides, she really had to go home, and she didn't want to wait until conditions for crossing that river were more favorable. In this case, she'd be stupid not to accept Phantom's offer.

She smiled. "Y'know, I think I would like a ride out of this forest."

Phantom returned her smile. "Okay. Get your stuff and I'll fly you out of here!"

In a matter of minutes, they were flying through the forest, toward the gap in the line of Blood Blossoms. They zoomed through the forest, flying through the trees rather tan zigzagging around them. It wasn't long before Phantom was setting Valerie down on concrete. "First stop, Amity Park," he joked.

Phantom opened his mouth to say more, but a stream of blue mist rose from his mouth instead. "That's my ghost sense," he said. "I should see what's up. You're welcome to come along. Last I remember, Amity had a shortage of competent ghost hunters to keep up with all the ghosts."

Phantom took to the sky, looking for the other ghost. A small group of teenagers in matching jumpsuits ran through the streets in pursuit of the ghost. "Yo dawg! That was quite a shot!" called one to his teammate.

Another of the teens pulled out a device that acted like a Fenton Thermos, as in it trapped ghosts. 'They're good,' Phantom realized. 'Who are these guys?'

"The ghost sensor's picking up another ghost!" one called.

"Uh-oh," said Danny as they turned and aimed their weapons at him. "That can't be good," he mumbled. He turned invisible and flew to someplace where he could change undetected to his human self.

In the meantime, the Blasters Team, attempting to follow Danny, ran into Valerie Grey.

"Did you see a ghost fly by here?" they asked.

"No," she said.

"Hey guys, don't you recognize her from her photos? That's Valerie Grey, that other ghost hunter that got killed looking for Fenton!"

"So you know who I am. Now could you tell me who you are?"

"We're the Blasters Team, and we're the best ghost-hunting teens in the country!"

"We're, like, totally naturals, which means you don't stand a chance, ghost!" As the Blasters Team fixed their guns on her, Danny got back from transforming.

"Could you please tell them I'm not a ghost?" Valerie called to him.

"She's not a ghost, guys. I mean, hello! Check your sensors! Is she registering as a ghost?"

"Well, no."

"You see?" Valerie asked. "I'm not a ghost. I crashed my hover board, and couldn't get a hold of anyone because there wasn't any service in that forest, but I didn't die! I was stuck there for months, but I'm back now."

Danny grinned. "And she made sure that Fenton's not haunting the forest anymore, so I guess you don't have to worry about him now."

"Whoa, that's it? Mission's over, and we didn't even get a chance to take a few shot at Fenton's ghost? I guess we'll have to go back home disappointed guys."

"Hey, do you think you could give me a ride back too?" Valerie asked. "I'm sure my dad's been missing me."

"Yeah, whatever," the Blasters said. "Let's just go."

Valerie grinned at Danny. "I guess this is good-bye then?"

"Yeah, I guess it is. Thanks, y'know, for everything."

"Don't mention it. I'll never forget you."

"Me neither. I guess you better catch up with them before they leave you." Valerie lowered her voice. "My email is . Do you think you can remember that?"

Danny nodded. "Keep in touch!" Valerie called back as she ran to catch up with the Blasters Team.


End file.
